Former IOA Presidents Kalmadi and Chautala were unanimously proposed for the positions, which are largely ceremonial and do not bring any voting power or right to attend events.

Kalmadi has since declined the Honorary Life Presidency but the IOA’s decision has still sparked fury within the country, particularly at the Sports Ministry which said Government recognition of the IOA would be revoked unless the decision was reversed.

Scandals have surrounded the pair, with Kalmadi being jailed on corruption charges in 2011.

Chautala was forced to resign as IOA President after the association's suspension by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) a year later.

The country's Sports Ministry, led by Vijay Goel, wrote to the IOA to ascertain the reasons why the two officials were honoured as Life Presidents.

A show-cause notice threatening derecognition was issued on December 28 and the IOA were given three days to respond.

The IOA claimed they would not be able to reply before the deadline as Ramachandran was away in New Zealand over the holiday period.

They had asked for 15 days to explain their reasons but this was denied by Goel.

Following the annulment of the appointments, which was also aimed at avoiding any possible action from the IOC, the Sports Ministry has hinted at revoking the suspension of the IOA.

"I am happy that IOA has reversed its decision which augers well for governance of sports in the country," Goel said in a statement.

"By reversing their earlier decision, which appears to have been taken in a hurried manner, IOA has complied with its own constitutional obligation and also with the conditionality approved by the International Olympic Committee.

"In the renewed circumstances, we look forward to partnering with IOA in making India a sporting nation."

The IOA was suspended by the IOC in December 2012 for Government interference and was only reinstated in February 2014. 

Kalmadi, IOA President from 1996 to 2012, spent 10 months in jail from April 2011 to January 2012 on corruption charges related to his chairmanship of the Organising Committee at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.

He was charged with conspiracy, forgery and misconduct under the Prevention of Corruption Act, but is yet to face trial.

Chautala was elected IOA President in 2012 but left the post after the IOA were suspended by the IOC for Government interference in the election.

He was also accused of corruption in a disproportionate assets case in which he was given bail by a Delhi court in 2010.

Chautala had insisted that he was ready to relinquish the post of Honorary Life President if the IOC told him to do so.

The IOA's associate vice-president Narinder Batra, who was elected head of the International Hockey Federation in November, resigned from his post in protest over the appointments of Kalmadi and Chautala.